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Scott's 2014 MLB Predictions
Explanations and whatnot will be coming later. Playoff seeds are in parentheses. AL East 1. Boston(2) 2. Tampa Bay(5) 3. New York(2nd team out) 4. Baltimore 5. Toronto Not many teams have treasure chests as massive as the Yankees that got cashed in, eha eha. Unfortunately, money can't buy championships like it could in the 90s. With guys like McCann, Elsbury, and Tahnka, they will fare better, but with a bunch of aged players, I see them in the high 80s for wins. The Sox will repeat as division champions, as they did not make many overhauls from last season. Tampa has a core group of yuongins centered around David Price. I see both of those squads in the 92-95 win range. Meanwhile, on the bottom of the division, there are the O's and the Jays. Its hard to go against either of them, as they both have strong line-ups led by Chris Davis and Joey Bats, respectively. They will be in the high 70s for wins, and Baltimore could be above .500. Toronto had a major letdown (salute) from their high expectations this time last year, and I don't see them recovering. AL Central 1. Cleveland(3) 2. Detroit(4) 3. Kansas City 4. Chicago 5. Minnesota Some say picking against Detroit is foolish, and they may be right. However, I believe that the Indians will win it, rather than the Tigers losing it. Cleveland had 92 wins a year ago with Swisher and Bournie having bad years. Some may say the loss of Ubaldo will be big, but he was pretty bad for the first four and a half months of the season. But the Tribe has Masterson back and he is playing for a contract. Detroit has a stellar team too. They have the top rotation in the AL and a daunting line-up. I think the Kinsler-Fielder swap is even and losing Fister will hurt them somewhat (although they still have Sherzer, Verlander, and Honey Ball). The difference between Cleveland and Detroit is the manager, and Francona's proven experience and leadership will push Cleveland ahead of Detroit and rookie skipper Brad Fini Ausmus. Both teams will have 92-95 wins. The Royals have young talent and an MVP candidate in Eric Hosmer, but I believe that the lack of pitching will be their downfall and they have another .500 season in store. The Sox are too talented to lose 99 games again but they are not very good, and the Twins, well, at least they have a nice ballpark! AL West 1. Texas(1) 2. Oakland(1st team out) 3. Seattle 4. Los Angeles (Large gap) (Second large gap) 5. Houston The Rangers have a wonderful offense and it got better this offseason with Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo. Fielder will have monster numbers, as he moves from one of the most notorious pitchers' parks to one of the most notorious hitters' parks. Their pitching staff is a little iffy, especially with Derek Holland rehabbing a bummed knee, but Yu Darvish should be able to keep them afloat. These guys will be the best team in the league, and I see them winning 95-98 contests. Oakland will take a step back. Not so much because they got worse, but because of the improvements by Texas and Seattle. The A's are the 6th best team in the league. They added bullpen arms, such as Scott Kazmir, even though he is inconsistent. The A's will be in the high 80's for W's. Seattle added Robinson Cano and Fernando Rodney, but they have a lot of young people who do not have as much promise as the Padres' young talent or the Royals' "young talent." .500 or a couple games under. The Angels are the hardest to predict, because they have so much talent, with guys like Trout, Pujols, Hamilton, and the newly acquired Freese, Ibanez, and Joe Smith. They will be just under Seattle, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were in second and possibly challenged the Rangers. Houston has lost 105+ games for three straight seasons, and I am convinced that this year will make it four in a row. They're bad. Maybe not Miami Druggies bad, but close. NL East 1. Washington (2) 2. Atlanta (1st team out) 3. New York 4. Miami 5. Philadelphia The NL East has three tiers. The good (Washington and Atlanta), the bad (New York), and the ugly (Miami and Philly). The Nats struggled with injuries a year ago, but they will be healthy and improved, with one of the top rotations in the NL (Strasburg, Gonzalez, Zimmerman, Fister) and a deep lineup (Harper, Werth, Zimmerman, LaRoche, Desmond). Their version of Tom Hamilton will say "Ballgame!" 92-95 times. The Braves will take a small step back. I fully expect them to have 85-89 wins, a trophy that says "you did it," and a hot plate, but their lineup outside of Justin Upton, Freddy Freeman, and maybe Jason Heyward is really pathetic. The Mets are improved and should hover around, or possibly above .500. Their rotation is one of the more underrated in the league, even without injured ace Matt Harvey. Miami will be improved also, but they have a lot of room for improvement. Jose Fernandes would easily be a 20-23 game winner on a good team, but his low ERA and probably 14-15 wins will give him serious Cy Yound consideration. Unfortunately, the Marlins have holes on their roster (no, not Stanley Holes, he's not a real person). The rest of their rotation su-ucks, and so does their line-up. High 60s is their likely win total. The Phillies are a disaster and could lose close to 100 games. Not many people think this, but I do think this. eha eha NL Central 1. Cincinnati (3) 2. St. Louis (4) 3. Pittsburgh (2nd team out) 4. Milwaukee 5. Chicago The Reds may have been weakened by the loss of Sin-Soo Choo, but I think this will be a very interesting battle for the division crown and the Reds and Red Birds will only be a game or two apart, with both teams in the 88-91 victory range. The loss of Beltran will be kind of big, but St. Louie will be able to overcome it. The signing of Jhonny Peralta may look big, but I see him having a down year. The Pirates lost A.J. Burnett, who was the leader of an otherwise young pitching staff. I don't think anyone can step up in his place, and the Buccos will struggle to finish near .500, which would still be their second-best season since 1992. Milwaukee and Chicago both suck. The Brewers have a little more firepower, so they will be slightly better than the Cubbies, who are looking to 2015 and beyond. NL West 1. Los Angeles (1) 2. San Diego (5) 3. San Francisco 4. Arizona 5. Colorado The Dodgers have the best pitching staff in baseball, a solid line-up, and a soft schedule (playing weak NL west opponents 19 times apiece and having interleague games against the AL Central, the least complete of the AL divisions), lead me to predicting the Dodgers to have 102 triumphs - the only 100 win team in MLB this year. San Diego also has a lot of potential and I think they surprise a lot of people on a playoff run. They added Josh Johnson and Joaquin Benoit. Their lineup has a lot of good players but lacks a superstar. Maybe they could be this year's version of the 2013 Indians, although I think high 80s for wins. The Giants will be on the fringe of the playoff conversation (82-85 wins). They have a strong line-up and rotation, but can't seem to stay healthy. Also, their bullpen is a weaknessthat they failed to adress in the offseason. The bottom of the division features the D-Backs (about 75 wins), who aside from Goldshmidt and Trumbo, are a bunch of question marks (figuratively, not literally, as is the case of the Imaginapolis 3D Symbols of the FCL). The Rockies do not look good, outside of Tulowitzski, who may be the top prize in the Trade Deadline Sweepstakes. If they trade Troy T, then it will be a very long two months, and a win total in the upper 60s is likely. Playoffs? You talking about playoffs? *'AL Wild Card' :* Detroit over TAMPA BAY *'AL Division Series' :*TEXAS 3, Detroit 1 :*Cleveland 3, BOSTON 2 *'AL Championship Series' :*TEXAS 4, Cleveland 2 *'NL Wild Card' :* ST. LOUIS over San Diego *'NL Division Series' :*St. Louis 3, LOS ANGELES 2 :*WASHINGTON 3, Cincinnati 0 *'NL Championship Series' :*WASHINGTON 4, St. Louis 3 *'World Series' :*TEXAS 4, Washington 2 Awards *'MVP' :*AL: Mike Trout (OF, LA) :*NL: Bryce Harper (OF, WSH) *'Rookie of the Year' :* AL: Xander Bogaerts (SS, BOS) :* NL: Oscar Taveras (OF, STL) *'Cy Young' :*AL: Yu Darvish (SP, TEX) :*NL: Clayton Kershaw (SP, LA) *'Manager of the Year' :*AL: Ron Washington (M, TEX) :*NL: Bud Black (M, SD)